3 Reasons why you should have a Knowledge Management System

3 Reasons why you should have a Knowledge Management System

I am betting that most of us do not have a system in place to efficiently harvest, process and share the knowledge we pick up in our day to day activities. A couple of weeks ago, I listened to a pod cast that discussed how to create a Personal Knowledge Management System.

Dave Stachowiak and his wife Bonni reviewed some of their methodologies for their Personal Knowledge Management System (PKMS) and I encourage you to check out their pod cast for some great tips.

While they talk about the mechanics of creating a PKMS, what I want to share with you its importance. Also, I will show you how this system will enable you or your business to process, harvest and share impactful information to your circle of influence or your co-workers.

1. Process or filter the information you gather

Not long ago, the news that was available for mass consumption could be found in a morning or evening newspaper or a handful of general magazines or trade journals. These sources were supplemented by the local and national evening news. This level of information was easy enough to digest and just about everyone at work or in your personal life had access to the same information.

However, today we have on-line newspapers (both local and national), 24hr cable news cycles, many niche e-zines, pod casts, social media streams/posts and yes even blogs.

The good news is that everyone can be in the game of providing content. The bad news is that everyone can provide content.

You should develop a filter by focusing on the goals and vision that you have for your business. If the information you are consuming does not relate to your business or your goals, then let it go on past you.

2. Develop methods to harvest information

Today, there are a many ways to harvest links to articles, pod casts or even journal articles. Due to the individual tastes and goals that individuals have for harvesting information, I am not going to recommend one method. Rather, I want you to keep the following in mind when creating a harvest system.

Make sure that you can capture the links, images or other media QUICK and EASY.

Have a method to CATEGORIZE what you have harvested.

Occasionally PURGE OUTDATED links or information that you do not need any longer.

3. Share your findings with others

Whether co-workers, employees, customers or friends we are all busy. When someone is able to send a valuable nugget of information to us without having to search for it ourselves, it is like finding an unexpected $20 bill in one of our pants fresh out of the wash.

As part of networking and maintaining relationships, the sharing of timely information strengthens those bonds and could contain the missing piece to a puzzle someone is trying to work out or overcome.

I recommend to my coaching clients and friends to freely share information that they think is of value to their networks. Sharing can take the forms of articles in newsletters, blogs, web posting or more effectively direct email or tweets.

Coach’s Wrap Up

Constant learning keeps us up to date on the current trends in our businesses and personal lives. Having a system that allows you to process, harvest and share what you have learned keeps you and your business growing and developing as well as adding value to those in your network.

2 comments

Thanks for the shout-out the show – very much appreciated! Glad it was valuable to you too.

Th research Bonni had been doing recently has been really interesting and I learned a lot too. It’s made me think a lot about how I go through these three steps. I need to get in a better habit of archiving everything that might be of value later. Pinboard has helped me a ton with this.

Dave thanks for stopping by. This podcast and many of your others have been very valuable. My father was in the on-line information business (ABI Inform) back in the early ’70s. The importance of being able to quickly process, harvest and share information has been something that still interests me. I find myself still printing some blogs and articles and then filing the hard copies just to be sure I have them a year or two down the road when I might need them again. I will have to look into Pinboard and see if that can help me with my archiving efforts.